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Okanagan Sun hold their annual general meeting Saturday

Sun set to elect new board

The Okanagan Sun are set to elect a new board of directors this weekend.

The Okanagan Mainline Football Society which runs the BC Football Conference team will hold its annual general meeting Saturday at the Kelowna Yacht Club.

The AGM begins at 10 a.m. and is open to the public.

Along with election of a new board of directors the meeting will also include the presentation of the society's financial report along with appointment of auditors and solicitors.



Okanagan Sun members take spin on dance floor at retirement resort

Sun players shine at dance

Residents at Westwood Retirement Resort had some very special guests stop by their winter dance on Tuesday evening.

Members of the Okanagan Sun Football team surprised the residents and even took a spin on the dance floor with some of the lovely ladies.

"The ladies were delighted to see the young men dressed in their team coloured shirts looking so dapper," said Christie Hughes with Regency Resorts.

Hughes says the players have great moves on the football field but some of them were a bit out of their element on the dance floor.

"Graciously, the ladies led the way," said Hughes.

"So much fun was had by all and the Westwood Residents would love to thank the Sun boys for a great night of dancing and extend an invitation to please come back soon."



Kamloops Broncos at risk of folding without $200K in sponsorship cash, dozens of volunteers

Broncos on the brink?

The Kamloops Broncos are in a dire spot, and they’re looking for major help from the community to keep the team afloat.

According to an open letter posted to the team’s Instagram account, the BC Football Conference club’s board of directors said the team needs six figures of sponsorship money and about 50 volunteers.

“We are looking for a rough estimate of around 50 volunteers and $200,000 from donors and sponsorships to come forward this off-season,” the letter reads.

“We’re asking for a response to this letter in the next six weeks or else the harsh conversation will have to be had about the state of the league as a whole and the immediate future of the program.”

According to the club, travel costs have spiked in recent years, including the addition of a BCFC team in Prince George, which requires more costly travel.

“Travel costs alone have risen substantially and the team expensed over $25,000 for the 2023 season,” the letter reads.

The Broncos have struggled on the field since their inaugural BCFC season in 2007, posting one winning season and one .500 season. They finished the 2023 campaign with two wins and eight losses, good for fifth in the seven-team league — a season for which the team was very optimistic.

If the Broncos were to fold, it would not be the first time the Tournament Capital has lost a BCFC team to financial turmoil. The Kamloops Cowboys were relegated to non-playing status by the league in 2003, a few years after that team was founded.

Anyone interested in discussing sponsorship or volunteer opportunities with the Broncos is encouraged to send an email to the club.



Westshore scored 29 unanswered 3rd quarter points to win BCFC final

Second half dooms Sun

One bad quarter stood between the Okanagan Sun and a chance to defend their Canadian Junior Football championship.

The Westshore Rebels took advantage of two turnovers and a stout defence to score 29 unanswered points in the third quarter in a 33-19 win over the Sun in the BCFC title game.

The Rebels will host the winner of Sunday's CJFL semi-final between the Saskatoon Hilltops and St. Clair Saints in the Canadian Bowl Nov. 11.

The Sun took advantage of four turnovers in the opening half to take a 12-4 lead into the halftime locker room.

Trailing 4-0 following a pair of conceded safeties, Owen Landry broke through and blocked a Rebels punt through the end zone for a Sun safety.

On the next Westshore possession, Tariq Brown returned a Te Jessie interception to the Rebels 25. Six plays later, including a conversion on third and one, Elelyon Noa burst through from four yards out to put the Sun ahead for the first time.

A second blocked punt from Philip Palmarin in the final minute put the ball on the Rebels 31.

They managed just a 32-yard Liam Attwood field goal for the 12-4 lead.

The Sun took the opening kickoff to start the third quarter with a chance to build on their second quarter momentum, but mistakes opened the door for the Rebels.

Defensive player of the year Demar Hohnstein scooped up a loose ball following a bad snap on second and two and sprinted 20 yards for the touchdown on the second play of the half. Jessie connected with Christopher Vincent with the two point conversion to even the score 12-12.

After a bad punt on their next possession put the ball on the Sun 48, Jessie needed just seven plays to march the team down the field, culminated by his own one-yard plunge.

The Rebels recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff leading to Jessie's five-yard touchdown toss to Cairo Berry putting the Rebels up 26-12.

They went up three scores when Berry returned the next punt to the Sun 24 leading to a four-yard run by Gerren Hardisty.

The Sun tried to make a game of it in the fourth quarter when Liam Kroeger, who replaced starter Hunter Norman late in the third, hit Ethan Marshall for a 30 yard score just two-and-a-half minutes into the final quarter.

They got to the Rebels 25 after recovering a Rebels fumble, but the drive was snuffed out when Kroeger was intercepted in the end zone.

They turned the ball over on downs on their next series at the Rebels 22 effectively ending any chance of a late comeback.

The Sun forced six Rebels turnovers but were only able to turn them into 12 points. The Rebels, who forced three turnovers, scored 14 points and stopped a promising Sun drive off those.

Unofficially, the Rebels amassed 331 yards of total offence compared with 335 for the Sun.



Okanagan Sun advance to BCFC final with 33-16 win over Chilliwack

Sun squeak into BCFC final

Saturday's 33-16 BCFC semi-final victory by the Okanagan Sun didn't come close to telling the whole story.

The score flattered the Sun who were sloppy and at times seemingly disinterested in their playoff tilt with the visiting Valley Huskers.

They needed two big plays in the first half just to take a one score lead into the locker room and a defence that forced six turnovers despite giving up more yardage than it has in any one game this season.

Husker quarterbacks sliced and diced the Sun secondary for 373 yards through the air. Backup Lucas Feaver who replaced the injured Tyran Duval late in the first half was particularly effective hitting on 23 of 34 for 272 yards and a touchdown.

On the other side of the ball, the offence struggled to consistently move the football, partly due to a ferocious Huskers front seven who smothered the Sun vaunted run game and a receiving corps with a collective case of the dropsies.

Sun head coach Travis Miller admitted after the game his team may have had their minds on other things.

"We probably had our heads too far ahead of things based on last week's performance. We're notorious for overlooking opponents and I think this was one of those things where we were looking toward Westshore without looking at what we were about to play," said Miller.

It was the defence that got things rolling when Tariq Brown playing centre field from his safety spot picked off Duval and scampered 32 yards for the opening touchdown.

The Sun forced a safety late in the quarter but it was until later in the second when the offence finally found paydirt thanks to running back Elelyon Noa.

The newcomer took an inside shovel pass and shook off at least a half dozen defenders on his way to a 72-yard scamper down to the Huskers 18.

Two plays later Aiden Wiberg ran in from four yards out to put the Sun ahead 16-0.

Following a conceded safety, Feaver came into the game and marched the Huskers 75 yards in just 39 seconds, capping the drive with a three yard strike to Tyson George-Kelly on the final play of the half.

The Sun put up just 150 yards of offence in the opening half as the Huskers seemed hell bent on stopping the Sun running game at all costs.

"That defensive game plan they had was incredible. We thought we could use the same game plan as last week and not change anything and they were able to come out and execute.

"I think they made some great adjustments and we tried to keep everything vanilla from last week. It obviously played out in their favour the way they thought it would. Untimely penalties on our side really played a big part too."

The Sun came out in the second half and, following a Muchael Jourdin interception on the first play, marched down the field, getting a 27-yard field goal from Liam Attwood to go up 19-9.

Two drives later, Noa ran in from seven yards out to put the Sun up 26-9.

The teams traded touchdowns in the final quarter before the Sun defence was able to shut down the Huskers, stopping them on downs three times over the final 15 minutes.

The Sun managed just 315 yards of total offence in the game including just 153 yards on the ground, much of that in the final quarter.

Noa was held to just 54 yards on the ground as the Huskers stacked the box every time he was in the backfield.

The Sun will travel to Victoria next Saturday for the BCFC final. The unbeaten Westshore Rebels earned the right to host the Cullen Cup final with a 40-14 win over Langley in the other semi-final Saturday.

Westshore handed the Sun their only defeat this season, a 52-23 pounding in the provincial capital.

The winner of that game will host the national championship game in three weeks.



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